Strain layered semiconductor devices are generally known and their anisotropic characteristics and absorption have been investigated. Two publications describing these characteristics include, for example, "Biaxial and uniaxial stress in gallium arsenide on silicon: A linear polarized photoluminescence study", H. Shen et al, Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 68(1), pp. 369-371, Jul. 1, 1990 and " Polarized-cathodoluminescence study of uniaxial and biaxial stress in GaAs/Si", D. A. Rich et al, Physical Review B, The American Physical Society, Vol. 43, No. 8, pp. 6836-6839, Mar. 15, 1991.
The effects of electric fields on the optical absorption near the band edge in GaAs/AlGaAs quantum well structures has been disclosed in a publication entitled "Electric field dependence of optical absorption near the band gap of quantum-well structures", Physical Review B, The American Physical Society, Vol. 32, No. 2, pp. 1043-1060.
Furthermore, an optical semiconductor device that includes a quantum well structure as the active region and exhibits a non-linear optical effect with respect to light of energy near the band gap between the allowed band edges and the active region is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No 5,001,522, entitled, "Optical Semiconductor Device", Takahashi et al, Mar. 19, 1991.